OTD| Kolkata Knight Riders star batter Nitish Rana was born in 1993

The elegant left-hander from Delhi, Nitish Rana, is celebrating his 30th birthday today. He has been one of the most consistent performers in the domestic circuit, earlier for Delhi and now for Uttar Pradesh. Rana has now evolved into a much more important role for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he served as captain as well in the last season. 

The left-hander made his domestic debut in a List A match for Delhi against Assam at Vishakhapatnam in 2013. A few days later he played his first T20 match for Delhi against Vidarbha. His impressive performances in limited-overs cricket ensured him a place in the squad for the Ranji Trophy in 2015 when he made his first-class debut against Vidarbha.

Fame in IPL

Nitish Rana rose to fame predominantly because of his performances in IPL. His first stint in IPL was with Mumbai Indians and later he moved to Kolkata Knight Riders. He brought out his best in IPL for KKR delivering some remarkable performances. The 30-year-old batter got his reward for consistent performances in IPL and domestic cricket when he got his maiden call-up for the national team in 2021. He made his international debut against Sri Lanka in an ODI match in Colombo. On the same tour, he played his first T20 match as well at the same venue against the same opposition.

Unfortunately, he did not get another opportunity to play for India but the KKR vice captain’s pursuit to play for India is on. His records in domestic cricket and IPL are impressive and the left-hander would look to improve them in times to come. Nitish Rana has played 44 first-class matches so far scoring 2507 runs at an average of 39.79. Apart from that he has also played 76 List-A matches where he has managed to accumulate 2264 runs at an average of 37.73. In IPL the Delhi-born cricketer has played 105 matches scoring 2594 runs at an average of 28.82 with an appealing strike rate of 135.25. Nitish will continue to play an important role for Kolkata in the upcoming seasons and the talented left-hander will look to make his comeback for India as well.